First he spoke briefly. He said he wanted to be known as the “jobs president”, and before taking economic actions, would be asking himself, “Is this good for the jobs of Middle-class Americans?” He stated, “I will close tax loopholes which financially award corporations for taking jobs over seas.” He stated that gross economic growth on paper is not being shared. Just because multinational companies and the very wealthy benefit from NAFTA, CAFTA, and the like does not mean that the majority of citizens benefit economically. He stated he has seen what happens — that in his case it was textiles, and when jobs go overseas, he has seen what happens to families and communities.
He then opened himself to questions. He stood there in blue jeans, surrounded by ordinary folk, outdoors, in folding chairs [the campaign said it had set up 150 chairs – all were full and there were plenty standing – he was in the open, standing on the bricks of the plaza, eye to eye.]
He was asked whether he would eliminate earmarks. He said that he would not ban them, but start with seeking to change how they were done. That too many changes were made at the dead of night, with legislation that was 100s of pages long given to senators only 15-20 minutes before it was to be voted on, that this had to end. Further, that any earmark to be considered had to show the name of the legislator seeking it, and he actually provided more detail than that, but I did not get it all written down.
When asked about the “No child left behind act”, John stated, “No child every learned anything from taking a test. You will know I come from the south, but the proverb that applies is “You don’t make a hog fatter by weighing it.” He said his plan would begin with involving teachers in evaluating student progress, that no test equals that insight; using a group of criteria rather than a single measure, measure each student at the beginning and ending of the year, and if a school is struggling, first support the school, do NOT strip it of resources.
He was asked about how to reduce “the culture of violence”. He stated, “You know, parents can turn televisions off, the starting place is the family.” He also said that a president’s influence on that issue came from using the “bully pulpit” of the presidency. His example was that this president is telling countries they cannot have nuclear weapons while developing new nuclear weapons at the same time. He said that has no credibility. Himself, he would seek to set up a task force or international commission to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Further, he said his “college for everyone willing to work in college” and “stepping stone jobs” would go a long way towards reducing youth violence.
When a well-known New Hampshire educator [sorry, missed the name!] stood up and said he wanted “those kids home now” and “we have lost two kids dead in Iraq”. John said he wanted them home too. His plan would be 50,000 home immediately, and then a nine month deadline. He said that the Iraqi politicians need to know that there is a deadline and that we are leaving. For the Iraqi parliament to go on vacation while American boys and girls were dying for them was unconscionable. He said without a deadline for us leaving, we will not see a serious Iraqi government.
He further stated we need to end the use of contractors, that national security was too important to privatize. He will institute an audit of what the contractors were paid for, and how much, and to whom. He fears the contractors have been “milking the American people.”
Further, he sees a need for government to confront, head on, the companies such as drug companies and health insurance companies that have been profiting excessively by becoming the real power in Washington. He said “It takes backbone. I know what it takes. You can’t be nice to these people.”
I don’t claim to have captured all of it – anyway, John, Elizabeth, the Edwards kids and staff got back on the bus and were off to the next stop on the tour. For the whole itinerary, go to: http://johnedwards.c…
Cross posted at: http://bostonforedwa…
I don’t know whether he’d make the best President, but I like his comments on contractors in Iraq, violence, and earmarks sound very good to me. The education stuff seems a little mushy, but I confess that, if good education policy bit me on the anatomical part, I wouldn’t recognize it.
His point about the contractors is a good one. There as been a huge amount of war profiteering in this war, which needs to be accounted for and prosecuted.
I just saw Sicko at the Arlington theatre–and that’s the right attitude. If we have a Democratic nominee who accepts the corporate terms of the debate and is willing to let the Insurance lobbyists decide what “the center” is, the people who need help won’t get any real help.
He says one thing and does another reminiscient of Al Gore. “We must conserve”, “carbon footprints”. Who lives in mega McMansions using twenty times the amount of energy than the average household?
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Contractors? The reason why we were required to farm this responsibility out is that we have a miniaturized armed forces and a society that does not wish to serve in the military. Hey folks, if you want to avoid any type of military service then you gotta anty up because someone has to do this. You got what you wanted: the absence of compulsory military service, live with it.
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Culture of violence? Again, you reap what you sow. This “gansta crap” etc. This is a manifestation of our relativistic society. There are no rights or wrongs, ergo everything can be excused or explained away. You may not like it, but you better get used to it. Every time the cops do something to put the clamps on, the ACLU, protesters, the “reverends” and angry parents are out there waving copies of the constitution. Until our society states that we will no longer tolerate unacceptable/criminal behavior, it will only get worse.
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John Edwards will not be the nominee. You should get used to that fact as well.
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Tired old Right Wing red herring:
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Do you prefer Bush who owns an ecologically efficient ranch yet enacts scorched earth environmental policies (not to mention scorched earth foreign policy, scorched earth economic policy and just about every other policy as well)?
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I’ll take Edwards, house, haircut, and all, thanks.
I just plugged it on the John Edwards blog, along with the smithie’s report from Merrimack.
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MCRD may be right that Edwards won’t get the nomination, but my experience canvassing in Keene is that NH voters are fed up with the GOP and haven’t decided on a candidate yet. This bus tour just reached a few thousand voters directly, a few hundred at a time. (We had 200-250 in Keene at 1:30 in the afternoon, a pretty respectable turnout.) And those people seem to have been impressed with what they’ve heard…
does not capture what is actually going on. The coverage in the Nashua Telegraph cut the head count by 75% in Merrimack and focused on Edward’s “struggle” to remain relevant. No one at the event saw someone struggling nor were they there to see a longshot candidate. Much of what John Edwards said never ended up in the paper, nor did the reporter talk to any voters. But these suggestions floating around that can’t be attributed to anyone get coverage.
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I grew up in NH and my folks still live there. I agree that there continue to be many undecided. My mother is deciding between Richardson and Edwards and my father is deciding between Kucinich and Edwards. They ran into neighbors and colleagues, all of whom had traveled to get to the event. People are still weighing their options.